"I had learned early one important thing, and that was to always teach in terms that the people could understand." -- Malcolm X, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, p. 254 The young child looked at the elder and asked, "What must I do to be strong when I grow up?" The elder looked kindly at the child and replied, "You must be like a tree. In life there will be winds of change and even storms from time to time. So you must grow roots that are strong and deep, connected to mother

​​"God always answers, one way or another, even when people don't recognize his presence." -- Job 33:14, The Message​​ One of my cats is dying. It was just confirmed today, though I'd already feared the possibility. Back in December 2004, my two cats were born in South Philadelphia, a boy cat and a girl cat, brother and sister from the same litter. I adopted them less than three months later, in February 2005, while I was still in my first year of law school. They've been w

​"In all people I see myself, none more and not one a barleycorn less." -- Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, Song of Myself 20​ One thing that I really can't stand is classism. It's a subtle form of discrimination, since it can seem somewhat acceptable in our society. It's easy to say that you're not a racist when you can point out that you went to high school or college with friends of a race different than your own or now you work with or go to the same church as people of ra

​​"Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is." -- The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway​, p. 110 The quote above comes in the part of the story when the old man, Santiago, has already killed a giant marlin, but he is trying desperately to defend his catch from all the mako sharks, who successfully attack and eat the carcass of the giant marlin. Santiago, regretful, wishes that he had a stone with him in order to sharpen